‘A House to Die In’ Looks Like It Fell Out of an HR Giger Sketchbook

Replete with a tiny crew of foundational gargoyles

By Athena Wisotsky

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Norway’s most beloved export (besides salted licorice), the architecture firm Snøhetta has never shied from grandiose and highly visible projects, from the Bibliotheca Alexandrina to Times Square.

But their commissioned home "A House to Die In," which comes stilted on a crew of eerie, critterlike gargoyles, might mark a playful turning point in the firm’s work.

snohetta (2 images)

Conceived in the mind of rowdy Norwegian artist Bjarne Melgaard, who’s been called “the most famous artist since Munch,” the house has been in the works since 2011, a rather long time for a residential project. Incidentally, the art world is concerned with what the commissioned home — adjacent to a villa that belonged to Munch and a subsequent artist’s colony and pilgrimage point — will mean for the latter’s estate.